Traffic signals have long been used to regulate the flow of traffic at intersections. Generally, traffic signals have relied on timers or vehicle sensors to determine when to change traffic signal lights, thereby signaling alternating directions of traffic to stop, and others to proceed.
Emergency vehicles, such as police cars, fire trucks and ambulances, generally have the right to cross an intersection against a traffic signal. Emergency vehicles have in the past typically depended on horns, sirens and flashing lights to alert other drivers approaching the intersection that an emergency vehicle intends to cross the intersection. However, due to hearing impairment, air conditioning, audio systems and other distractions, often the driver of a vehicle approaching an intersection will not be aware of a warning being emitted by an approaching emergency vehicle.
Traffic control preemption systems assist authorized vehicles (police, fire and other public safety or transit vehicles) through signalized intersections by making a preemption request to the intersection controller. The controller will respond to the request from the vehicle by changing the intersection lights to green in the direction of the approaching vehicle. This system improves the response time of public safety personnel, while reducing dangerous situations at intersections when an emergency vehicle is trying to cross on a red light. In addition, speed and schedule efficiency can be improved for transit vehicles.
There are presently a number of known traffic control preemption systems that have equipment installed at certain traffic signals and on authorized vehicles. One such system in use today is the Opticom® system. This system utilizes a high power strobe tube (emitter), located in or on the vehicle, that generates light pulses at a predetermined rate, typically 10 Hz or 14 Hz. A receiver, which includes a photo detector and associated electronics, is typically mounted on the mast arm located at the intersection and produces a series of voltage pulses, the number of which are proportional to the intensity of light pulses received from the emitter. The emitter generates sufficient radiant power to be detected from over 2500 feet away. The conventional strobe tube emitter generates broad spectrum light. However, an optical filter is used on the detector to restrict its sensitivity to light only in the near infrared (IR) spectrum. This minimizes interference from other sources of light.
Intensity levels are associated with each intersection approach to determine when a detected vehicle is within range of the intersection. Vehicles with valid security codes and a sufficient intensity level are reviewed with other detected vehicles to determine the highest priority vehicle. Vehicles of equivalent priority are selected in a first come, first served manner. A preemption request is issued to the controller for the approach direction with the highest priority vehicle travelling on it.
Another common system in use today is the Opticom® GPS priority control system. This system utilizes a GPS receiver in the vehicle to determine location, speed, and heading of the vehicle. The information is combined with security coding information that consists of an agency identifier, vehicle class, and vehicle ID and is broadcast via a proprietary 2.4 GHz radio.
An equivalent 2.4 GHz radio located at the intersection along with associated electronics receives the broadcasted vehicle information. Approaches to the intersection are mapped using either collected GPS readings from a vehicle traversing the approaches or using location information taken from a map database. The vehicle location and direction are used to determine on which of the mapped approaches the vehicle is approaching toward the intersection and the relative proximity to it. The speed and location of the vehicle are used to determine the estimated time of arrival (ETA) at the intersection and the travel distance from the intersection. ETA and travel distances are associated with each intersection approach to determine when a detected vehicle is within range of the intersection and, therefore, a preemption candidate. Preemption candidates with valid security codes are reviewed with other detected vehicles to determine the highest priority vehicle. Vehicles of equivalent priority are generally selected in a first come, first served manner. A preemption request is issued to the controller for the approach direction with the highest priority vehicle travelling on it.
With metropolitan-wide networks becoming more prevalent, additional means for detecting vehicles via wired networks such as Ethernet or fiber optics and wireless networks such as Mesh or IEEE 802.11b/g may be available. With network connectivity to the intersection, vehicle tracking information may be delivered over a network medium. In this instance, the vehicle location is either broadcast by the vehicle itself over the network or it may broadcast by an intermediary gateway on the network that bridges between, for example, a wireless medium used by the vehicle and a wired network on which the intersection electronics resides. In this case, the vehicle or an intermediary reports, via the network, the vehicle's security information, location, speed, and heading, along with the current time. Intersections on the network receive the vehicle information and evaluate the position using approach maps as described in the Opticom® GPS system. The security coding could be identical to the Opticom® GPS system or employ another coding scheme.
As used herein, the term “vehicle control unit” refers to the various types of modules capable of communicating a preemption request to a preemption controller. This includes, for example, IR light based modules, GPS based modules, and wireless network based modules. In addition, a preemption request refers to both preemption requests that emanate from emergency vehicles and to what are sometimes referred to as “priority requests,” which emanate from mass transit vehicles, for example.